Obamacare trafficking worthy of a pardon?

All 1,250 bags of heroin confiscated by state police were labeled with the
"Obama Care" brand. state police courtesy photo

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If anyone deserves a presidential pardon for drug violations, it surely has to be the four creative drug runners nabbed in Northampton recently.

State police troopers grabbed the "Northampton Four" following a 3 a.m. traffic stop and discovered that the four small-business entrepreneurs -- two from Vermont and two from Newark, N.J. -- had 1,250 small bags of heroin in their vehicle.

All four were arrested and arraigned in Northampton District Court, charged with, among other things, trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to violate drug laws, and possession with intent to distribute.

But what took the case out of the ordinary was that these four fine chaps had each neatly wrapped bag of heroin -- all 1,250 bags -- labeled "Obama Care" in big, red letters.

State police spokesman Todd Nolan said the labels were used so that buyers could identify where the drugs came from. "To the best of our knowledge, it's like branding," the trooper told the Boston Globe.

Either it was a joke, or that these farsighted Millennials (the oldest is 23), were intent on cashing in on President Barack Obama's last-ditch public-relations campaign to save his sinking Obamacare program before it goes completely under.

Maybe their plan was to sell the bags to fellow mellow Millennials, the very people Barack Obama needs to finance his socialist takeover of medical care in America.

"Look," one of the fine lads could say to potential customers, "This is all for Obama Care, just like it says on the package.

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And if you get hooked on the drug, not to worry. You're covered."

The Northampton Four could have been recognized nationally for supporting and selling Obamacare -- the health-care program, not the drugs -- to the millions of young people across the nation.

It certainly would have beaten the nerdy "Pajamas Boy" Internet ad put out by Organizing for America in support of Obamacare. This is the ad, mocked by young people, that was supposed to get the young to sign up for Obamacare, which the ingrates have not done. Instead they laughed at the insufferable-looking young man, clad in his plaid onesie pajamas, drinking hot chocolate, while urging young people to get health insurance they cannot afford. Talk about being out of the loop.

It is not that Obama is opposed to pardoning drug users or traffickers. He is, after all, a former self-admitted pothead himself, especially when he was a member of "The Choom Gang" during his high school days in Hawaii. This gang was made up of fun-loving fellow mellow potheads who would light up a joint in the car with all the windows rolled up.

And just recently Obama commuted the stiff prison sentences of eight crack cocaine prisoners, including the sentence of Reynolds Allen Wintersmith. Wintersmith, 39, who is serving a life sentence for drug trafficking, just happens to be Gov. Deval Patrick's first cousin.

But Patrick said he did not know Wintersmith, and could not recall ever meeting him. "I know this man exists," he said. "I didn't know of his imprisonment."

Like a lot of things that go on in life -- or in his administration -- Patrick said he knew nothing about the commutation until he was told about it by his staff. He was not involved in the commutation in any way, he said, despite his numerous White House meetings with the president. It was just one of those things out of the blue, like hitting the lottery, the governor said. Who knew?

It was remindful of Obama's stance on "Uncle Omar," President Obama's uncle Onyango Okech Obama, and "Aunt Zeituni," Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango. Both, living in the country illegally, ignored orders that they be deported back to Kenya.

Both were granted asylum and allowed to remain in the country by Immigration Judge Leonard I. Shapiro, who, after these rulings, has to be bound for the U.S. Supreme Court at the next opening.

In both cases, President Obama said he knew nothing about either relative living in the country illegally, just as Patrick did not know his cousin was in prison. And just like Obama, who said he did not even know Uncle Omar -- until it was revealed that he did -- Patrick said he did not even know his cousin Wintersmith.

Anyway, neither man used their influence to seek a favorable outcome for their troubled relatives, or so they said.

Which is why there has to be hope for the Northampton Four.

Because if you don't know the president, and you don't know the governor -- and they don't know you -- you are more likely to get a pardon than not.

Yeah, right.

Peter Lucas' political column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email him at luke1825@aol.com.

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